Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,26
the river, but there was something so wonderfully feminine about her. Clearly she enjoyed being a woman.
The combination of smart, strong and ultra-feminine was more powerful than she knew. He suspected it scared away most men.
Dana had told him that Hilde didn’t date much. “She must know the kind of man she wants. I just hope she finds him. Hilde deserves someone special.”
Colt looked away. He was far from anyone special, but he did wonder what kind of man she was looking for. Or if she was even looking. He thought of his short marriage and the heartbreak it had caused. He’d told himself he would never marry again. But that was before he met Hilde.
They had just finished their sandwiches when there was a splash followed instantly by a scream. He and Hilde turned to look across the lake in the direction the sound had come from and there was Dee swimming in the clear, cold water.
She was laughing and shrieking, but clearly enjoying herself.
Colt noticed that even Hud was smiling at the crazy Easterner.
When it became apparent that she was nude, the men turned around and let her rush out of the water without them watching.
“Did you see that?” Hilde asked.
“I didn’t peek.”
“Not Dee. Did you see that even Rick turned around? Doesn’t that seem odd if the two were boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Colt shrugged. Everything about Rick Cameron seemed odd to him. Add Dee to the mix and you had a rodeo. “She does like attention,” he said.
“And she’s getting it. Hud isn’t completely immune to her. If for some reason Dana wasn’t around...”
Colt frowned as Dee came out of the trees dressed again, her hair wet, her face aglow from her swim.
Hud laughed and shook his head when Dee suggested he should have come into the water. No man was completely immune to a woman’s attention, especially one who, on the surface, seemed so much like his wife.
Colt had learned that the hard way.
Chapter Seven
After the horseback ride up to the lake, Hilde couldn’t wait to get home, shower and curl up in her bed. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. Add to that everything that had happened to her in the past forty-eight hours and she knew she had good reason to be exhausted.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay and have dinner with us?” Dana had asked. “Hud is going to broil some steaks. I’m making a big salad.”
“I would love to, really, but the ride took a lot out of me,” Hilde said. She could see that her friend was disappointed, but Hilde had had all the Dee she could take for one day.
She gave Dana a hug, hugging her more tightly than she normally did, afraid for her friend. “Thank you for the offer, though,” she said when she let go.
“Once you get to know Dee you’ll see how vulnerable and sweet she...” Dana’s words died off as she must have seen something in her friend’s expression that stopped her.
“Be careful,” Hilde said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Dana gave her a sympathetic look, and Hilde sensed that things had changed between them. It made her sad, but she couldn’t blame her friend. Dee was like a slow but deadly poison.
“Oh, Hilde, aren’t you staying for dinner?” Dee said all cheery, as she came down the stairs. She’d showered and now wore a sundress that accentuated all her assets—which were no small thing. “I know Dana has missed you. I’m afraid she’s getting bored with me. I’m not much fun.”
“You are plenty fun,” Dana said to her cousin. “I could never get bored with you.”
“Am I the luckiest woman in the world to have such an amazing cousin?” Dee asked with a too-bright smile. “I’m so glad she found me and invited me to Montana. I’m having a terrific time. I’ve missed having family so much.”
“I know that feeling, so I’m glad,” Dana said to her cousin, then turned to Hilde. “Change your mind about dinner.”
“Another time.” Hilde held Dana’s gaze. “Take care of yourself.” And she was out the door and headed for her SUV. It was all she could do not to run. She saw Colt glance up from where he and Hud were talking by the corrals. Concern crossed his expression, then his gaze went to the porch where Dee was standing, backlit by the light coming from inside the house.
Dee said something to the two men. Hud laughed and Dee started to come off the